Karamakov•Tom Riddle FanFiction

The Darkness Within

The trouble is, you think you have time.

She had been back at Hogwarts for a week now, and it had been torture.

Teddy and Hanna were everywhere; laughing, linking arms, cuddling, and Kenna could do nothing but watch how happy they were without her. Maybe they were even happier this way.

Still, she tried her hardest to endure it and try to be glad that they still had each other. However, Kenna was selfish - she wanted her Teddy back.

Gradually, she realised that no other aspect in her life would fill the hole that Teddy had left. Tom attempted too but being around him made Kenna more aware of her friend's absence.

Every time he would try to comfort her, the girl's brain wouldn't let her accept it, no matter how much her body clearly wanted to. There was always that questioning voice in her head.

"Do you mind if I sit?" A voice asked, stealing Kenna away from her thoughts. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good distraction.

Oran was standing over her, one hand on the chair beside the brunette, awaiting her answer with a lopsided smile. Reluctantly, she nodded and the small smile turned into a wide grin.

He was shamelessly boyish; from his unruly hair to his unkempt uniform. "Kenna, right? I don't know if we've met before but I'm Oran."

Without thinking, Kenna replied, "I know who you are," before blushing from embarrassment.

"Right, quidditch," Oran said with a smirk, not noticing her blush at all. "At least, I assume. If we'd met before, I'm sure I would remember."

Kenna blinked blankly at him. Was he flirting with her? For a moment, she wondered what it would be like if this happened over and over. She wondered if it was possible for Oran to keep liking her then forgetting her then liking her again...

Perhaps it would be best that way. Kenna reckoned that if Oran really got to know her at all then he wouldn't be very interested.

The saddest thing about the boy wasn't that he was causing Kenna's existence to crumble; it was that he was a stark reminder of how she'd never have a normal life.

He would have been a normal boyfriend, a good one. They would have been normally happy. They would have had normal dates and laughed at normal things and Kenna would have convinced herself she was satisfied.

"Your nose," Oran's shocked voice grabbed Kenna's attention. As did the red spots that had began to appear on the parchment in front of her.

Hastily, she scurried up, a chilling shock shooting through her own veins, and didn't even say goodbye before rushing out the common room and into her dorm.

Kenna barely made it to the bed before a wave of dizziness eloped her into darkness.

***

It was dark when she awoke, and her bedsheets were drenched in sweat yet Kenna felt frozen all over.

There was a loud ringing in her ears that strengthened every time she tried to open her eyes.

Eventually, Kenna gave up trying.

***

Her dreams were invaded by memories - stark ones that Kenna didn't even know existed.